[nmglug] Learning about options for installing programs, help please

[Ted Pomeroy]

NMGLUGers, I use both 'apt' on cli and Synaptic(GUI) for installing
packages. If I know the package name and how it fits into my system the cli
is quicker and direct. I have usually reviewed the repositories in
/etc/apt/sources.list; and have a sense of the differences between them.
However, if I am in doubt or do not know the package name, but do know what
area I need to have function more I use Synaptic and rely on its Search
function and the brief descriptions of each package. A recent instance of
this was a search for Libreoffice clipart that is free and compatible with
my sources.list. While there is a vast amount of free and non-free clipart
in the wider world, in Synaptic I could count on not getting caught up in
ambiguous copyright or hidden hooks or incompatibilities. It is a trivial
example I am sure, but gives an example of how the GUI aids me when I am
short on other knowledge.
I hope to see a few of us tonight at our Virtual meeting. Thank you, Ted P.


On Tue, Dec 1, 2020 at 11:01 AM Akkana Peck <akkana at shallowsky.com> wrote:

> LeRoy Diener writes:
> > For example, one way to install a program is from apt.
> > What does that mean? Is it related to typing in the CLI something like
> sudo
> > apt install ... ? Is it related to the etc/apt folder? What are the
>
> apt is a program, used to install software on Debian-derived systems.
> (You can verify that by typing which apt; which will show that apt is
> /usr/bin/apt).
>
> You can run it to install packages (apt install), to update the
> system (apt update && apt upgrade or dist-upgrade), and for
> various other functions.
>
> apt originally stands for "Advanced Package Tool", and it's also
> used as a general name for the way Debian packages software,
> and all the programs that support it (in addition to apt, there are
> lots of helpers like apt-cache, aptitude, apt-file, dpkg, synaptic
> and on and on). You can read more about the general use on Wikipedia:
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APT_(software)
>
> Some of those programs build in extra stuff: e.g. aptitude has
> nicer searching than apt-cache and different dependency management
> from /usr/bin/apt, while synaptic has a GUI for people who aren't
> comfortable running in the command line. But even if you use some
> of these tools, e.g. Ubuntu's package manager GUI, you're still
> "using apt" underneath.
>
> > pros/cons?
>
> If I'm on a Debian system, I always install software using apt
> unless there's a good reason not to. That way, when I update my
> system, I automatically get updates for every apt-installed package.
>
> Some reasons that would lead me to install a program some other
> way than apt:
> - not available in apt, either because it's proprietary (e.g. Zoom)
>   or because nobody has packaged it
> - the version in the distro I'm running is too old, and I need
>   features or bugfixes that come with a more recent version
> - I plan to contribute to the package, so I need the cutting
>   edge version built from source
>
> > Another way to install is into home bin.
> > What does that mean? Is it related to the home/bin folder?
>
> You can, optionally, create a directory named "bin" inside your
> home directory -- so you could refer to it as ~/bin, $HOME/bin,
> or /home/your-user-name/bin -- and add it to your PATH, the
> environment variable that controls where the system looks for
> executable programs.
>
> In my ~/bin, I mostly put programs I wrote myself, and a few
> scripts I downloaded from a trusted source. It isn't somewhere
> I typically install downloaded software packages.
>
> > Where are the programs coming from if installed using apt or not from
> apt.
>
> When you install using apt, the programs are almost always coming
> from your Linux distro's repositories for the version of the distro
> you're running (e.g. Ubuntu 20.04, Debian Wheezy). You can choose to
> add additional repositories outside the distro, but that's fairly
> unusual and something you have to do deliberately. For instance,
> some people make PPAs ("Personal Package Archive") for Ubuntu to
> distribute newer versions of certain programs than the ones Debian
> distributes.
>
> > How safe are programs from outside the repository? Which places are safer
> > than others?
>
> Programs from outside the repository are only as safe as the place
> you're getting them. For instance, if I download firefox from
> mozilla.org, I figure that's pretty safe; if mozilla.org got
> compromised it would be all over the news and I'd hear about it.
> But if someone on an IRC channel says "Hey, there's a great program
> you can download from harrysprograms.com", that's obviously not
> safe. You have to use your own judgement and common sense when
> downloading out-of-distro packages.
>
> Some sources can be misleading. For instance, Python programs can be
> installed using pip, perl programs using cpan, ruby programs using
> gems; you would think these should be safe because they're coming
> from the organization behind Python or Perl or Ruby, but they're not
> really, because anyone can upload programs to those systems. That's
> also true of the AUR system in Arch Linux. So again, you have to use
> common sense: is it a program a lot of people seem to use and trust?
> Has it been around for a long time?
>
> > Does it make a difference which folder on my hard drive where the
> programs
> > are installed to?
>
> No. If you're running it, you're running it, regardless of where it
> lives on your file system.
>
>         ...Akkana
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